


Changes

by Qentaro



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon-Typical Violence, Drama, F/M, M/M, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-18 22:02:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29989491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qentaro/pseuds/Qentaro
Summary: Sequel to "Shattered."Changes sometimes occur barely perceptibly, others with a bang. How much of it can the relationship between Orion and Theron withstand? How much the relationship between their friends? Is there a way out, or will it all end in chaos?
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Theron Shan/Original Character(s)





	1. Chapter 1

Coruscant, one of the Republic's core worlds, was bustling with activity as usual, which Theron Shan was not interested in at all at the moment.

Deep in thought, he looked out through one of the huge windows of the apartment he occupied with Orion, onto the bustle of the city planet.

The glass of the outer front was treated in such a way that it prevented people from seeing into their apartment from the outside and could also be darkened if necessary.

There had been a lot on the former spy's mind lately, since Orion and he returned from Nar Shaddaa.

As expected, the DNA reprogramming Orion had done to himself was not without consequences.

At first, he struggled with some neurological deficits in his musculoskeletal system, but he persevered, so that by now only a barely perceptible limp and problems with the ability to grip with his hands occurred when he was too exhausted or tired.

And even these minimal limitations were not something Orion was willing to simply accept.

Which was why Theron was standing there now, pondering a whole new problem.

Arms slowly wrapped around his body from behind and he felt Orion snuggle up to him. A smile played around Theron's lips.

"Hey, awake already?" he smirked as he spun around in Orion's embrace. "And even socially presentable again. And I thought I broke you last night."

Orion laughed.

"That's debatable who broke who here." Then he kissed his partner passionately and demanding. Theron turned him so that he could press Orion against the window, then grabbed his hands and held them against the glass to the right and left of his head as well.

The kiss quickly increased in intensity and passion, and just as their hands were about to start moving pesky pieces of clothing out of the way, the intercom at their front door announced visitors.

Orion leaned his head against Theron's shoulder with a sigh.

"Do we really have to open?" he muttered with his eyes closed.

"I'm afraid if you want to keep your head we should. Zoosha will tear it off when she realizes she came all the way from Tython for nothing" Theron replied, noticing not for the first time how Orion began to emotionally distance himself from him in an instant.

He broke away from Theron's embrace and turned to face him only once more because Theron was still holding one of his hands.

"If anyone is looking for me, I'm meditating" he announced and then disappeared without another word as Theron let go of his hand.

The latter looked after him for a moment and his mind was more than made up that there was no way it could go on like this.

After he had halfway put his clothes back in order, he went to the front door of their apartment and opened Zoosha and Narva.

Zoosha, who entered first, just glanced at him and then briefly tousled through his completely ruined hairdo in greeting with a smirk on her face.

"You forgot something" she laughed and hugged him warmly, eliciting a smile from Theron.

"I didn't want to keep you waiting outside any longer," he replied, now greeting Narva as well, while Zoosha looked around.

"Where is our problem child?" the Jedi finally wanted to know.

"In his training room," Theron replied, pointing in the direction Orion had disappeared. Zoosha put a hand on his shoulder encouragingly.

"I'll go talk to him, see what's going on."

So Theron was left alone with Narva.

Both made themselves comfortable in the living area.

"And what can I do for you" the Jedi began the conversation. "You've been acting so secretive and you didn't want Zoosha to know about it either, so what's going on?"

Theron disappeared for a moment and then came back with a blood sample, which he handed to the baffled Jedi.

"Okay?" was all the latter said and pocketed it, waiting for Theron to enlighten him about what it was all about.

"I didn't really notice Orion acting strangely until after we were back in our usual environment here on Coruscant." Theron began his explanation as he took his seat again. "Believe me, I've seen a lot of chasms in my time in SID, so I'm sure what Orion is taking is not something a doctor would prescribe for any pain, if he still feels any."

"You think he's taking drugs?" Narva echoed in surprise, for he hadn't expected that at all.

"I don't just believe it, I know it," Theron replied with a bitter undertone. "Two days ago I found him in his training room, he had overdosed, probably rather unintentionally.

Still, I can think of nicer nighttime occupations than staying awake and making sure the person I love most makes it through the night. That's where the blood sample came from"

"So you want to know what exactly he's ingesting?" Narva wanted to make sure and Theron nodded.

"I'm going to cut him off so he'll finally fucking talk to me. But first I want to be sure what he's taking so there are no nasty surprises."

"What did Orion say about that night?" the Jedi still wanted to know, and Theron sighed.

"From the looks of it, that accidental overdose completely erased his memories of that night, the next day he acted like nothing had happened."

"I'll let you know as soon as I have the results" Narva assured him.

Zoosha knocked lightly on the door to Orion's training room and waited until he invited her in, then entered the slightly darkened room.

"I can just concentrate better this way" the former Jedi explained as Zoosha approached.

He knelt in the middle of the room, in front of him lay the lightsaber Xiu had given him. The Togruta settled down across from Orion and he raised his head, opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Have you thought about accepting Xiu's offer of you joining his clan?" Zoosha began the conversation. She didn't want to jump right into it.

"Maybe," Orion replied to her with a slight shrug. "Finding one's place with the Mandalorians isn't just an honor, after all; it also comes with some obligations that I don't know if I can or want to fulfill without exception."

Zoosha nodded in understanding.

"You're right about that. You either commit yourself completely to their way of life or you don't. There's nothing in between."

"But that's not why you came all the way out here to ask me about it," Orion returned to the real reason for Zoosha's visit.

"Is the Jedi council really that irritated just because I didn't immediately throw myself into the dust before them to ask for resumption into the Order?"

"Orion..." the Togruta began, not without clear displeasure in her voice, but the former Jedi raised a hand to ask her to stop talking.

"Zoosha," he continued instead. "I do not intend to return, no matter how many times they ask me. I just don't want to be monitored anymore and we both know even if they say they won't, they still will. Just the fact that you are here confirms it to me."

"Why are you so bitter?" Zoosha sighed.

"Maybe because I know they will never accept my deviation from the norm" Orion answered her, raising his right hand and causing flashes of dark purple energy to appear between his fingers, coiling around them like snakes.

Just as thought, Zoosha was instantly on her feet, holding a hand to the hilt of her lightsaber ready for battle.

"How in the... I mean, I thought the reprogramming was successful?"

"If you mean that in terms of me turning back into a galaxy annihilator, you're right, that will never happen again" Orion replied, grabbing his lightsaber and standing up as well. "Still, the darkness will always be a part of me, I'll have to live with that fact."

"Does Theron know about this?" the Togruta echoed, to which Orion shook his head.

"No," he replied. "And let's keep this to ourselves, please. He'd only worry again, you know him. I have everything under control."

Zoosha doubted that this was the case, but she agreed. For now.

"How about a training fight?" she suggested, because she was very interested in how strong Orion still was and a battle simulation let her assess that relatively well.

"Okay," the former Jedi agreed, activating his lightsaber at the same time as Zoosha. "But I have to warn you, it's been a while since I last fought, I'm afraid I'm a little rusty."

"Why do I just not believe you?" the Togruta countered with a smile, then their lightsabers clashed against each other.

Zoosha quickly noticed that Orion used an aggressive fighting style, rather atypical for a Jedi, an expression of his inner imbalance, but she had no problems standing up to him.

Then, however, with increasing duration of the sparring, something strange happened. Orion's movements became slower, more imprecise, and from his facial expression Zoosha realized that he himself did not understand what was happening to him.

Suddenly, Orion's lightsaber slipped from his grasp, hit the ground, and went out.


	2. Chapter 2

Orion's body began to tremble, and the light blue of his eyes to glow more and more intensely.

Zoosha deactivated her lightsaber, reattached it to her belt, and then went to check on Orion, but he backed away from her.

With discomfort, she perceived the force enveloping him once again, in a Crotesque mixture of light and darkness.

"It feels different than the last time." Orion murmured in wonder as he stared at his hands, as if something was happening there that he alone was aware of.

Narva and Theron came rushing into the training room.

The Jedi had sensed, even in another part of the apartment, that something was wrong.

Orion looked to his partner.

"I'm sorry," he apologized to Theron with regret and also sadness in his voice. "I thought the evolution had stopped completely."

For the first time, something like fear stole itself into his features.

"I can't stop it anymore."

The power around Orion grew brighter and more intense until everyone had to close their eyes, blinded.

An eternity later, they opened them again and found that Orion was still standing in front of them.

However, he was no longer the same man they knew. 

Orion had transformed into an astral, power-filled being whose eyes shone like blue crystals.

Theron cautiously took a few steps toward him, not letting the two Jedi hold him back.

"Orion?" he asked as his heart pounded to his throat.

His partner looked at him with a tilted head at first, as if having trouble remembering him, but then raw, unfiltered emotion rushed at Theron. Everything Orion felt for him in a powerful wave that nearly took his breath away.

Dazed, Theron staggered back a step whereupon Orion realized he was overwhelming his partner and the emotions faded as quickly as they had come.

The next thing he and now the two Jedi perceived was uncertainty. Not as overwhelming as before, but still an unfamiliar feeling of someone communicating their emotions in this non-verbal way.

"It's all right," Theron tried to reassure Orion. "None of us really know how to deal with this new situation right now."

He wanted to walk towards him again, maybe even touch Orion, but Zoosha held him back, this time by grabbing his arm.

"Theron, he's still like a toddler at the moment, unable to assess his powers" she whispered warningly to him.

Orion's gaze fell on Zoosha's hand and his astral form darkened noticeably.

Before Theron could say anything, Zoosha released his arm and raised her hands placatingly.

"Orion, I don't want to hurt him. Theron and I are friends. It's all good."

Orion was confused at first when he became aware of his surroundings again. He still felt like himself, but somehow he wasn't anymore. The force was like a huge background noise in his body that felt so new and unfamiliar, and it unsettled him.

When he lifted his head he caught sight of Theron in front of him. Relieved, he tried to speak to him, but for whatever reason he couldn't get it coordinated.

Instead, he realized that he was unintentionally sharing his emotions with Theron to an extent that visibly overwhelmed his partner.

Feeling even less in control than before, he tried to shield himself as best as he could from Theron and from his friends.

Then he saw Zoosha holding Theron's arm and from then on Orion was no longer in control of his emotions and although the Togruta pulled away from Theron, his only thought was to get his partner to safety.

Theron didn't know what hit him as Orion wrapped him in his arms and glistening bright energy enveloped him. Orion's soothing hum in his head slowly put him to sleep and he didn't notice where his partner disappeared with him.

When Theron finally opened his eyes again, blinking, he looked into the worried face of Xiu.

Confused, he realized that he was in one of the corridors of Xiu's spaceship.

"What are you guys doing? ," the Mandalorian asked, shaking his head.

Panic spread through Theron as he remembered Orion's short-circuit action, and he looked around feverishly for him. Xiu helped him sit up.

"Orion?" he began, but didn't have to finish his question because the Chiss pointed past him and Theron saw Orion sitting not far from him at all, leaning against the wall.

The energy surrounding him had decreased significantly, was now duller, less intense, and he seemed lethargic, as if this trip had strained him too much.

"Orion just doesn't know who he is yet and what he's capable of doing." Bian jolted Theron out of his thoughts, who had come over and handed him a cup of water, which Theron gratefully accepted and emptied in one go. "You can be glad that he actually reached us before his powers weakened."

"You're not the first to tell me today that he's acting like a child," he replied, setting the cup aside and turning to Orion. "He's acting exclusively on impulse at the moment, so we should be careful about what we do in his presence. An action by Zoosha, harmless in itself, has brought him and me all the way to your ship."

After this explanation, Theron turned his full attention back to Orion.

On hands and feet he covered the short distance between them. His partner raised his head and looked at him. Almost hesitantly, he raised a hand, which Theron grasped without hesitation and their fingers intertwined. Relief from Orion's side flooded through him and increased in intensity as Orion placed the fingers of his other hand against one of his temples.

Suddenly Theron had the feeling to hear his own breathing overloud, then parts of Orion's memories appeared in front of his mind's eye, in a force and speed that literally swept him along as in a wild stream.

He saw a male Rattataki, at first still dressed as a medic, adjusting Orion's medication. Theron could not remember ever seeing him in the hospital, so he must have taken advantage of the few times Orion was alone.

The next memories showed the man first in the apartment on Nar Shaddaa, then on Coruscant. He handed Orion medical-looking stims that were most certainly anything but. Most likely the Rattataki had triggered Orion's dormant evolution again, only this time not with the devastating effects as before, thanks to the DNA reprogramming.

So why would someone want to mess up their life in such a way, Theron didn't understand at first, nobody had any advantage by it. Unless it was purely personal reasons. And suddenly he realized who was responsible.

"I shouldn't have let her go" he heard Orion's voice in his head accompanied by a wave of different emotions. All this seemed to agitate him very much.

A slight tremor of exhaustion seized Theron's body. His humanoid body simply lacked the necessary resources for this kind of communication.

Soothing, warm feelings of love and affection wrapped him as if in a blanket and once again he was overcome by this need for sleep that he could not resist.

"I know they'll take care of you," was the last thing he heard from Orion, but he was already too far into sleep to develop anything like concern over the words.


	3. Chapter 3

When Theron opened his eyes again he was still on Xiu's ship, but this time he was in the bed of one of the quarters.

"Welcome back," Xiu greeted him. "I hope you've had enough sleep for now."

Theron sat up with a sigh.

"Let me guess, Orion is gone?" he wanted to know soberly.

Xiu nodded, snapping his fingers.

"Just as fast as you guys showed up here, bam, he was gone. Could have been only seconds. Way too fast to even react."

Briskly, Theron got up from the bed and almost landed on the floor again if Bian hadn't held him as a sudden dizziness overcame him, but disappeared just as quickly.

"Your aura has changed since you interacted with Orion," she stated after Theron was able to stand on his own feet again. Frowning, he looked at her.

"Are you saying I'm going to transform too?" he asked cautiously, but Bian shook her head.

"There's no sign of that" she replied "I think Orion has subconsciously just made sure you two can communicate and it's what I perceive."

Thoughtfully, Theron rubbed his temple while looking back and forth between her and Xiu.

"That doesn't make it any less challenging" he explained to the two. "Before Orion disappeared he shared some of his memories with me." He then told Xiu and Bian about his initial suspicions of Orion and what his memories had revealed to him.

"So you think this Rattataki was sent by Ryu to apply whatever to Orion over an extended period of time?" summarized Xiu, and Theron nodded.

"Who else would have an interest in throwing Orion's life into total chaos? And thanks to his memories, I know what the Rattataki looks like now, we just need to track him down and find out what they did to Orion?"

"Then let's get to work" Bian agreed. "Orion will find us when he is ready, there is nothing we can do to speed it up."

An abandoned mining station on a small moon, in the middle of nowhere, was the place Orion chose as his retreat. Here he could concentrate on himself in peace and quiet, and that was exactly what he desperately needed at the moment.

Places, people, even things he knew he should know or recognize remained foreign to him, because it was difficult for him to bring together what he knew with what he saw.

Confused about the fact that he knew he was looking for a woman he knew, but couldn't match her with the right knowledge in his head, he had completely lost the thread of where he was going after he left the spaceship behind.

Orion felt as if everything was slipping out of his control and the more he tried to prevent it, the worse it got.

On the planet where he sort of crashed after leaving Theron with the Chiss and the Miraluka, two different parties were fighting each other. His memory steadfastly refused to serve him as to their identities.

Orion simply remained where he first touched the ground, too weakened to move anywhere else. The Force, now a part of him, flickered wildly back and forth, from light to dark and back again.

The former Jedi held his head with both hands. All optical and acoustic stimuli around him caused him more and more pain with the feeling that his head would explode at any moment. Unconsciously, he communicated this so intensely to the outside world that anyone who came too close to him fell over dead, suffering a neural short circuit.

When he felt force users approaching, his only thought was to flee.

Orion could not remember how he finally landed on the abandoned mining moon.

Just as he managed to normalize his appearance so that only his bright blue eyes betrayed him, Orion sensed that he was no longer alone.

After Narva and Zoosha got over their first shock after Orion's and Theron's disappearance, they contacted the Jedi Council, who gave them the order to find Orion and bring him to Tython. They also gave the two Jedi the freedom to decide for themselves what means they would use to accomplish this.

Since they couldn't and didn't want to do the search alone, they contacted Jayden and Kayla, as well as Xiu and Bian.

The two smugglers gave the pirate station Port Nowhere as a meeting place, where the Jedi also went directly.

The Mandalorian and the mysterious Mirakula, however, remained missing.

"You haven't heard from Xiu and Bian, have you?" Zoosha wanted to know from the two smugglers after they had retreated to a more private area on the station.

The two Jedi, in order to be less conspicuous here, had traveled incognito and dressed accordingly.

Jayden leaned back in his chair and sighed briefly.

"Lately almost not at all, but our areas of interest do not overlap much so that it would be unusual. As for you two" he nodded briefly in the direction of the Jedi. "The Chiss belong to the Empire, and Mandalorians rarely have anything to do with the Republic on principle, even less with the Jedi. His partner will probably be no different, otherwise she wouldn't be with him. Perhaps they just don't care enough to have contact with you."

"That would be a shame," Narva countered. "Right now it would be an advantage to have friends who can move freely in Imperial space to help us find Orion and Theron. Since we don't know where they disappeared to, we could use all the help we can get."

Jayden considered it for a moment, then nodded.

"I'll try to contact those two and let them know what it's about," he finally replied. "I can't promise anything, though. And Kayla and I will keep our eyes open for Orion and Theron, of course."

Zoosha nodded.

"Thank you very much. That's all you have to do. Leave it to us to talk to Theron and especially Orion. According to the latest information we've received, that would be the safest way for you."

Kayla, who had been listening silently until now, turned to the Jedi.

"Will it be as bad as it was in the arena?" she asked. The memory of what Orion had done then still gave her goosebumps of the unpleasant variety.

Narva shook her head.

"I don't think so, because that part that affected his DNA was destroyed by the reprogramming. Still, there's no way to predict how strong Orion will end up being because of his special bond with the force. Right now he's disoriented and it would be best if we find him as soon as possible to help him."

"It would be fatal if the Sith get their hands on him first," Kayla muttered, a bad premonition creeping up on her.

"Indeed," Zoosha agreed with her.


	4. Chapter 4

"If you know where to look, it's not that difficult to find you, brother dear," Ryu greeted with put-on cheerfulness.

Orion took a few steps back from her and watched her suspiciously. The Sith clearly sensed her brothers uncertainty and it was exactly that which played into her hands. As long as Orion couldn't place what danger she posed to him she could put her plan into action.

"You know, I wanted to apologize to you, what I tried to do to you was not nice of me" she began again. "And that's why I brought you something very special as a sign of reconciliation."

With these words, she quickly reached into a pocket of her black robe and, in one fluid motion, threw an object to Orion.

The latter could not suppress the reflex to catch what was thrown to him, a cube-like object, and thus sealed his fate.

Immediately, his body began to absorb the energy stored in the cube.

With a pained cry, Orion sank to his knees, unable to let go as the energy flowed from the cube through his hands and into his body.

Ryu knelt in front of him with a triumphant smile to better observe him.

"My little gift to you, brother dear," she declared triumphantly. "A holocron from the Temple of the Dark Side on Dromund Kaas. It has absorbed so much abysmal dark energy over the centuries that even you don't stand a chance."

Almost as if to reassure Orion, she placed a hand on his shoulder and felt with satisfaction that her plan had worked when Orion finally dropped the holocron.

Ryu stood up and held out her hand to her brother.

"Welcome back to the family."

Orion grabbed her hand and let her help him up.

Outwardly, he appeared unchanged, a dangerous advantage, over Ryu, whose use of the dark side of the force was plain to see. Nevertheless, the Sith felt an icy coldness emanating from him, which surely could be felt by any non-force users.

Quite abruptly, Orion grabbed her and pushed her rudely against a rock wall behind her.

"Stab me in the back and I'll kill you" he threatened her, his voice darker, more menacing.

Ryu laughed softly and brushed a strand of hair from his forehead.

"I will obey all your orders without reservation, brother dear. I hereby swear that."

Orion looked at her piercingly for a while, then turned away.

"Then let's get out of here."

Ryu smiled to herself, she had made up for her mistake, and now followed Orion to the ship she had come in.

"The Jedi have begun searching for Orion and you" Xiu shared the information with Theron after speaking with Jayden via Holocom. "So I ignored Zoosha's message, and I didn't mention to Jayden that you were with us. He and Kayla are also keeping an eye out for you."

"For now, we should leave it at that." Theron agreed, as he and Bian went over the list of Ryu's possible whereabouts that she and Xiu had compiled. Theron was sure that Orion would also try to track down the Sith.

"So what's your latest clue?" he finally asked, and Xiu pointed to a planet in the Outer Rim on the star map.

"Belsavis," the Chiss replied. "We got the information a few days ago and were already on our way when Orion and you boarded our ship."

"Then let's go there and see what's going on," Theron suggested, and the other two agreed. "A prison planet like that is a good place to lay low. There's a contact or two there I could reach out to."

"I'll reach out to some contacts as well," Xiu agreed with him.

"Then I'll watch your backs" Bian added, and with that their further course of action was decided.

"I traced the connection to the Outer Rim" Kayla began after Jayden finished his conversation with Xiu. The only major planet in their vicinity would be Belsavis."

The smuggler nodded and once again pressed the holocom of his ship. Normally it wasn't his style to spy on friends, but he still vividly remembered his last encounter with the Sith, which had almost cost him his life, not to mention what Orion had gone through. They should not let it come to that again, if it could be prevented.

Narva's holographic image appeared on the holocom.

"News?" he asked and Jayden told him about his conversation with Xiu and his assumption that if Orion and Theron were not with the Mandalorian and the Mirakula that they at least knew where to find them.

"That's very helpful," the Jedi thanked him. "I'll tell Zoosha about it as soon as she gets back from the council."

"Let me guess, you want to go to Belsavis as well" Kayla wanted to know after the conversation was over. She still wasn't comfortable with the whole thing.

"I've never let friends down before and I'm not going to start now. Be careful, ok, but don't turn your back on them." Jayden replied and headed for the cockpit. Kayla followed him.

"There's no question about it," she countered, "But I know you, reason and recklessness are very close in your mind."

Jayden grinned as he entered the trip coordinates into the on-board computer.

"That's exactly why you love me, isn't it?"

Kayla gave him a smack on the back of the head with the flat of her hand.

"Don't push it," she grumbled, though he was right, of course. She would never tell him, though.


	5. Chapter 5

Theron didn't even know what hit him. One moment he wanted to meet a really good contact in a watchtower of an empty prison wing that the Republic was using as a temporary storage facility, the next moment he felt a strong dizziness and only seconds later lost consciousness.

When he woke again, he was lying on the ground and all he could see was darkness, so impenetrable that Theron could not make out exactly where he was.

His entire body was a single ache that grew and grew until every little movement, every breath, even every thought became unbearable. The more he fought it, the worse it got, but Theron didn't want to die curled up on the floor if that was going to be the end of him, so he forced himself to stand up, which he finally did after what seemed like endless minutes.

The slightest breeze would have brought him to the ground again in his condition, yet he put one leg in front of the other in slow motion, and in pain that almost robbed him of his sanity. As he did so, he also extended one hand infinitely slowly to feel his way forward.

Quickly, actually much too quickly for Theron, came the point where he felt that his next step would be his last and that he would never know who had done this to him.

And why.

Orion would be alone out there somewhere, wherever that might be, not knowing what had happened to him. They would never see each other again, ever....

The rising despair made everything worse and Theron faltered.

Then someone grabbed his still outstretched hand, the fingers linked together and everything suddenly became so bright that Theron had to close his eyes with a painful groan.

Someone held him upright even though he could no longer stand.

"I am with you, everything will be all right Theron," he heard a soothing voice.

Icy coldness numbed the pain.

With a relieved sigh, Theron let himself sink into Orion's arms and returned his kiss as best as he could.

One of Orion's hands moved over Theron's face into his hair and shortly thereafter raw, dark energy flooded his entire being, changing his nature, his thoughts and actions, but also restoring his health without him having the slightest chance to fight back in any way.

Blinking, Theron opened his eyes. It was as if he suddenly perceived everything around him in a new and different way.

His eyes fell on Orion, standing before him, in the room, in the watchtower, from which he had apparently never moved, and smiled.

"No more chains, ever again." Theron heard Orion's voice in his head. Grinning, he reached for his partner and pulled him close for another kiss. Unbridled passion and dark desire made them forget everything around them.

Xiu and Bian began to worry after Theron neither reported in nor returned to the ship at the appointed time, neither did he respond to their attempts to contact him. They were getting ready to search for their friend when Jayden contacted them on the holocom.

"Get to the Republic outpost Xenon as fast as you can, we just landed here. Something is not right. I'm sending you coordinates."

The smuggler looked highly concerned and at the same time struggling for composure, so all alarm bells were ringing in Bian and Xiu's heads.

"We are on our way" Xiu confirmed while they were already leaving their ship.

Fortunately, he had not yet stowed the glider he had left with back in the cargo hold, so he and Bian could leave directly.

The outpost was not too far away from their landing pad. Once there, the two of them were confronted with a gruesome picture.

The complete military unit, even all droids, nobody was alive anymore. On the one hand, perished by blaster shots, on the other hand, by something or someone who twisted limbs in a grotesque way, but otherwise leaving no external wounds.

Theron stood in the middle, totally unmoved and unmoving. He remained completely silent and reacted to nothing and no one.

Only hesitantly did Xiu move toward his friend, toward Jayden and Kayla, who had already moved closer to Theron. Bian did the same.

"I'm afraid we've lost him," the Miraluka said what the other three were thinking. She couldn't see Theron's fiery red eyes and pale complexion, but she saw his aura, corrupted by the dark side, and it hurt her soul to imagine that maybe nothing remained of the friend she knew.

"Is there nothing we can do?" Kayla asked softly, the dismay of all that had happened here clearly audible in her voice. Bian shrugged her shoulders.

"Not here and not now," the Miraluka replied. "I would need a quiet, safe environment to connect with his mind."

"The question remains why this massacre? Just for fun?" Jayden interjected in frustration, trying unsuccessfully to get any reaction from Theron. "And who did this to Theron? Ryu, or Orion after all, and we have a much bigger problem? And why the heck is Theron just standing here, waiting for what?"

"Zoosha and Narva haven't shown up yet" Xiu replied, pulling Jayden back a little further at which Kayla backed away as well. "Whatever he wants, we're not his target and that's why he's ignoring us."

"And if I put a blaster to his forehead, would he react?" Jayden didn't like it at all, standing idly amidst all the dead and just doing nothing. Xiu could understand that all too well.

"We're friends, he knows you won't pull the trigger," the Chiss replied, and the smuggler sighed in resignation.


	6. Chapter 6

Theron had been listening intently to the conversation before his eyes the entire time, and the uncertainty he witnessed from the others pleased him greatly.

Xiu was right, he was indeed waiting for the two Jedi, but they too were just an annoying hurdle.

Orion wanted to get rid of his pursuers, he had plans elsewhere, so Theron had stayed behind on Belsavis to do just that.

After leaving the watchtower with Orion, it had been an exhilarating feeling to kill all those unsuspecting soldiers together, and now it was only a minor evil for Theron to endure a little pain if it meant he could watch his "friends" tear each other apart. And he already had a plan how he would achieve that.

As if on cue, Zoosha and Narva appeared on the scene. A wide grin stole itself onto Theron's face as he perceived the female Jedi's shock, at the dead, but also at him.

As the two Jedi approached, he slowly held out both hands in the gesture that indicated he wanted to be arrested. Why would he deny that he had helped commit this massacre when it still filled him with such an unbridled lust for more bloodshed.

Zoosha paused for a moment, bent down to one of the dead soldiers nearby, took his shackles, then, as she stood with Narva in front of Theron, put them on her friend while her partner took his blaster.

"Theron Shan, I hereby arrest you in the name of the Republic for..." the Togruta swallowed noticeably. It was anything but easy for her to do what she had to do. "...For the murder of Republic soldiers and personnel of the Xenon outpost."

"You know what, Zoosha?" countered Theron with a mocking undertone. "It was a heady feeling to end those useless lives."

The slap he received in return elicited only a quiet laugh.

"Even if it means nothing to you at the moment, Theron," Zoosha vowed. "I will do anything to free you from the clutches of the dark side."

"Who says I want to?" Theron retorted with a cold smile. "Orion and I are happier than we've ever been."

"Orion is clouding your mind!" the Togruta countered angrily.

Narva, not wanting to let his partner get any more upset, grabbed Theron by the arm and pulled him toward the cell wing.

"We'll lock him in a cell for now, take care of the dead, and then we'll see" he decided seriously and turned to Zoosha again. "Would you request reinforcements from the high command here on Belsavis?"

The female Jedi nodded silently and looked after the two, then reached for her holocom.

"This is getting too crowded for me here," Xiu announced as Zoosha carried on her conversation.

"We could retreat to my ship for now" Jayden suggested, and after everyone agreed, they let Zoosha know where to find them, then headed off. The dead would be taken care of appropriately by the military personnel that had been called in.

"When this is all over, you and I will spend some quality time together, Pt'ah," Ryu murmured, snuggling deeper into her Rattataki partner's embrace.

The two of them had made themselves comfortable on the bed in Ryu's quarters while their spaceship flew on autopilot towards the destination they had entered.

"But first, let's finish this business with Orion."

Pt'ah nodded and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"Honestly he's a bit scary, even for me as a spy. And I've seen a lot of things. But Orion hasn't moved an inch since we picked him up from Belsavis. He probably doesn't even eat, drink, or sleep."

Ryu smiled.

"I don't think he's concerned about such mundane matters anymore. Which is probably why he doesn't notice that we find it strange that he hasn't moved out of his quarters."

Pt'ah relaxed and closed his eyes to recharge his batteries a bit.

"The thing is, this should better work out as planned" he murmured. Ryu sighed softly.

"Let's hope Orion is strong enough. Otherwise, we won't have a chance to regret it."

Meanwhile, on Belsavis, a new commando unit had arrived at the outpost and began re-securing the perimeter, as well as recovering and appropriately taking care of the dead.

With the post now secure again, Narva and Zoosha took Theron to one of the interrogation rooms. Narva had tried to persuade his partner to wait, as she was far too emotional, but the Togruta would hear none of it. The Jedi knew the reason for this.

Zoosha had been ambushed on one of the lower levels of Coruscant when she was still a Padawan. Impetuous and overconfident, she had wanted to prove to her master that she could already stand on her own two feet, and that had almost cost her her life. Fortunately for Zoosha, Theron followed the same trail and was there in time to rescue her and bring her back to the Jedi. The former spy joked that she might return the favor one day, and now Narva realized how seriously Zoosha took it. She wanted to save Theron, no matter what, and that worried him more and more.

Here and now they were facing Theron, who was immobilized by a stasis field around his body. That is, Narva stood while Zoosha paced back and forth, lost in thought.

"This whole thing is a waste of time," Theron complained as he tested the strength of the stasis field. "Either show your true colors now or let me go. I'm starting to get bored with this whole thing."

"What do you mean?" Narva echoed, who noticed out of the corner of his eye how Zoosha stopped and began to listen.

Theron closed his eyes, relaxed and took a deep breath.

When he opened his eyes again their color had changed, from red to light blue, but that wasn't all. The mocking smile that stole itself onto his face didn't seem to be his, just like the voice that finally spoke to them.

"You know exactly what he meant, Narva" both Jedi heard Orion's voice. "So do us all a favor and don't play dumb. These two faces of the Jedi. Always pretending to be so noble and heroic, the saviors of the galaxy, yet they are empartieless, ruthless oppressors who impose their will on others, just as they accuse others of doing."

"Like you're doing to Theron right now?" Zoosha interjected into the conversation. Narva could clearly sense her burgeoning anger. Orion laughed in amusement.

"That's a mistake, Jedi. Theron has joined me willingly. Even if you refuse to face that fact, it remains true. We are joined, and none of your ridiculous magic tricks could change any of that."

"I wouldn't bet on it," Zoosha hissed angrily, and before Narva could do anything about it, she put both hands to Theron's temples and focused the force on cutting the existing link between him and Orion.

Her friend's body stiffened and he cried out in pain as the force jerked through his head. It was unmistakably Theron who was suffering here, not Orion.

Without hesitation, Narva grabbed Zoosha's arm and pulled her away from him.

"This is not the way, Zoosha," he admonished her sternly. "Don't be tempted. Look at what you've done."

The Jedi looked to Theron, who had lost consciousness and was only kept on his feet by the stasis field.


End file.
